Emerging Threats

In December, Saudi Air Force officer Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani shot and killed three U.S. sailors and wounded eight others at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. While al-Qaida’s affiliate in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) took credit for the attack, the extent of the group’s involvement remained unresolved for several months as the FBI faced difficulties gaining access to the contents of Alshamrani’s Apple iPhone. However, last month, U.S. officials revealed that al-Qaida operatives had regularly communicated with Alshamrani for years and oversaw the terrorist’s planning process. The shooting marks the first lethal attack in the U.S. directed by an international terrorist group since the September 11 attacks.

Recent plots and new evidence revealed last month show that jihadist groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State (ISIS) are actively seeking to attack the U.S. homeland. While counterterrorism efforts have increasingly focused on emerging threats, such as right-wing extremism, jihadist terrorism continues to pose a significant threat to U.S. national security.

On May 29, a Florida woman, Alison Marie Sheppard (a.k.a. Aiisha Abdullah), was sentenced to almost six years in prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. According to court documents, Sheppard planned to send cellphones to the terrorist organization to use as timers for explosives devices. Since 2016, Sheppard used Facebook and other social media outlets to communicate with jihadist sympathizers and share extremist Islamist propaganda online. Undercover law enforcement helped disrupt the plot after posing as ISIS supporters in communications with Sheppard.

Last week, the Department of Justice charged Muhammed Momtaz Al-Azhari, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, for similarly attempting to offer tangible support to ISIS and planning an attack on behalf of the terrorist group. According to a criminal complaint, the suspect was inspired to emulate an Islamic State sympathizer who had carried out a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub which killed 49 people in 2016.

In 2018, Al-Azhari returned to the U.S. following a three-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia for attempting to join a terrorist organization in Syria. He eventually settled in Tampa Bay – where he was arrested on May 24 after acquiring weapons to be used in an attack. Al-Azhari allegedly scouted potential targets, communicated with Islamic State sympathizers online, and was immersed in the terrorist group’s propaganda.

Islamic State operatives have been known to use the internet and social media outlets to inspire or direct terrorist attacks around the globe, as these latest Florida cases illustrate.

But last year’s attack at the Pensacola naval airbase shows that ISIS is not the only jihadist group planning attacks. Al-Qaida remains an enduring threat to U.S. homeland security.

Last week, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen was indicted for seeking to provide material support to the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab terrorist organization. Liban Haji Mohamed lived in Northern Virginia when he was believed to have traveled to East Africa to join the Somalia-based terrorist organization in 2012. According to the FBI, Mohamed is “a recruiter and radicalizer for al-Shabab” and remains a wanted fugitive. A recent study on U.S. foreign fighters shows that Virginia is one the top three states with the highest proportional rates of recruitment for jihadist organizations.

Hundreds of American jihadists have traveled or sought to travel to foreign conflicts to fight on behalf of Islamist terrorist organizations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, and Yemen.

While foreign sources of terrorism pose a serious concern, the main jihadist threat to the U.S. comes from within. Most perpetrators of such plots in the U.S. are American citizens or residents.

To portray a more accurate picture of jihadist threats, it is important for investigators and researchers to incorporate disrupted terrorist plots into their threat assessments. One report from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) identifies 121 jihadist plots targeting the United States since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing until 2017 – ranging from failed and foiled plots to successful attacks. During this period, terrorist plots and attacks increased significantly after 2010 and then again following the rise of the Islamic State in 2014. Only 15 of these plots were fully carried out as planned.

Evaluating terrorist activity solely based on successful attacks skews our understanding of terrorist threats. According to the START report, 82 percent of U.S. jihadist plots were completely or partially disrupted. Similar to the recent Al-Azhari case, government intervention – either through surveillance or the use of informants – is responsible for preventing most jihadists plots in the U.S. But forewarnings from community or family members also play an important role to trigger counterterrorism investigations. Among all foiled plots, 12 incidents were intercepted in the final stages of the planning process, shortly before a would-be assailant appeared ready to carry out an attack. Reporting foiled plots also showcases effective law enforcement and counterterrorism measures to a concerned public.

The United Kingdom warned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that if it continues with its decision to impose the “authoritarian” national security law on Hong Kong then Britain will be forced to form an alliance with Western powers against the regime in Beijing.

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab told Parliament on Tuesday: “There is time for China to reconsider, there is a moment for China to step back from the brink and respect Hong Kong’s autonomy and respect China’s own international obligations.”

Mr Raab said that the if the national security law is imposed on Hong Kong, “it would violate China’s own Basic Law” as well as ending the “One Country, Two Systems paradigm” that was agreed to in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which guaranteed the city local autonomy for 50 years after the United Kingdom handed over control of the former British colony to China in 1997.

The law, which was passed last week by the National People’s Congress (NPC), the rubber-stamp legislative body of the Chinese Communist Party, will criminalise any act that the CCP considers to be a form of “secession” or “acts against national security” in Hong Kong. The law is seen by critics of the communist state as a means of clamping down on the pro-freedom protest movement in the city.

The foreign secretary said that “the United Kingdom, have historic responsibilities, a duty I would say, to the people of Hong Kong”, and therefore would look form an alliance against the country with other Western nations.

The government would also begin extended visa rights and possibly offer citizenship to British National Overseas (BNO) passport-holders in Hong Kong. There are an estimated 300,000 BNO holders in the city, but upwards of 2.9 million Hong Kongers are eligible to apply for the status.

Following the passage of the national security law last week, the founder and chairman of Hong Kong Watch, Benedict Rogers, told Breitbart London: “Today freedom and autonomy in Hong Kong are dead. The Chinese Communist Party has broken its promises and killed Hong Kong.”

“Boris Johnson must now speak out personally, robustly and clearly, mobilise the international community to act as one, and impose targeted Magnitsky sanctions,” Rogers added.

On Tuesday, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, defended the draconian national security legislation by comparing the pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong to the Black Lives Matter and Antifa rioters that have looted and vandalised cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd.

“There are riots in the United States and we see how local governments reacted. And then in Hong Kong, when we had similar riots, we saw what position they adopted,” Lam said, according to the South China Morning Post.

“For some countries that have had a high-profile response and claimed they will take action, I can only describe them as upholding double standards. They value very much their own national security, but are biased in viewing ours.”

On Monday, the Hong Kong police announced that the city would be banning the annual vigil held for the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre for the first time in 30 years. The authorities claimed that the ban was a result of the Wuhan coronavirus; however, many believe the move was made to appease the communist government in Beijing.

The recent high-profile cyber attack that struck British budget airline easyJet may have been carried out by Chinese hackers, new research and multiple sources have suggested.

The cyber attack, which saw the email addresses and travel details of millions of passengers being robbed—as well as the credit card details of some 2,000—was reportedly conducted by the very same group of Chinese hackers responsible for other attacks on a number of airlines in recent months.

“We would like to apologize to those customers who have been affected by this incident,” said easyJet’s boss, Johan Lundgren. “Since we became aware of the incident, it has become clear that owing to COVID-19 there is heightened concern about personal data being used for online scams.”

“As a result, and on the recommendation of the ICO, we are contacting those customers whose travel information was accessed and we are advising them to be extra vigilant, particularly if they receive unsolicited communications,” added Lundgren.

Information remains scant concerning the identity of the alleged Chinese hackers behind the cyber attack, with the Chinese embassy in London declining to comment when questioned by local newspaper The Sun.

How the cyber attack unfolded

According to sources who spoke to news agency Reuters, the hacking tools and techniques used in the cyber attack incident pointed to a group of Chinese hackers as the culprits. The unnamed group reportedly has a history of carrying out malicious cyberattacks on airline companies, the sources said.

The sources, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, explained that the Chinese hackers responsible had previously been in the business of targeting travel records and other data in order to track the movement of specific individuals. In this way, the cyber attack seems to have been less motivated by financial gain as it was by espionage.

The hacking tools and techniques in question—which appear similar those used in previous security breach incidents involving airlines—allowed the Chinese hackers to walk away with that same data belonging to some 9 million easyJet customers in total.

In response to the cyber attack incident, easyJet has kicked off an investigation into the matter, claiming that results so far seem to indicate that the Chinese hackers had been targeting intellectual property, as opposed to data that would assist in identity theft, such as CVV/CVC numbers. The investigation’s preliminary findings support the claim that the hackers did indeed have a motive for the attack that was more than mere financial gain.

The airline has said that it will have contacted all affected customers by May 26, and that it is advising all users to be wary of phishing attacks in the wake of this security breach.

The ICO: A spanner in the wheel

Aside from easyJet’s internal investigation into the incident, another investigation is being carried out simultaneously—this time by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to determine whether the airline itself had not properly protected the personal data of its customers.

According to multiple reports, the ICO investigation will likely result in easyJet facing a heavy fine for the data breach having occurred in the first place.

“People have the right to expect that organizations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly. When that doesn’t happen, we will investigate and take robust action where necessary,” the ICO said in a statement.

Such a fine would by no means be unprecedented in the UK aviation industry. British Airways, for example, is currently in the process of appealing against a £183 million ($223 million) fine that it received from the ICO last year after cyber criminals stole the credit card details of hundreds of thousands of its customers the year before.

Data in the hands of Chinese hackers

Because of the lack of information that has so far surfaced about both the attack itself, and the precise motives of the Chinese hackers behind it; it remains up in the air as to how the personal information stolen might end up being used.

According to Oz Alashe, chief executive at the UK cyber security awareness firm CybSafe, customers whose personal data was impacted by the cyber attack are most likely to experience phishing attacks, or some variant thereof.

“There is a risk that some of the victims of this data breach will receive phishing emails. These may be targeted and can be difficult to spot. For the smaller subset of customers who have had financial information stolen, credit and or debit cards will need to be cancelled. It remains unclear whether financial data was encrypted and how this was compromised,” explains Alashe.

He goes on to point out that, in the wake of a cyber attack of such a scale, the onus rests on easyJet to remain transparent and honest with its customers as more information becomes available.

“For easyJet, continued transparency is now of the utmost importance. It is vital that the company keeps its customers informed. While the business has promised to contact those affected ‘no later than 26th of May’, notification must come as soon as possible if feasible,” Alashe adds.

Americans are increasingly of the opinion that the coronavirus pandemic will alter the global balance of power, with more now believing China is becoming a major threat to the U.S. than two years ago. That’s according to analysis by the Pew Research Center.

In a series of polls, a cross-section of the U.S. population was asked questions about what they thought the world order would be after the pandemic. When asked whether they thought China’s power and influence were a threat to the U.S., 62 percent of respondents answered yes, a considerable increase from the 2018 figure of 48 percent.

Party affiliation shaped people’s views of China, with Democrats (23 percent) more than twice as likely as Republicans (10 percent) to believe that China’s power will increase due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the majority of those who back the GOP (63 percent) believe that Beijing’s influence will diminish because of the pandemic, compared with 40 percent of Democrats.

About a third (31%) of Americans said that China’s influence after the outbreak would remain the same compared with before it, and almost a fifth (17%) think that it will increase.

However, there has been a dip in Americans’ opinions of China’s military strength relative to other major military powers. Six percent of respondents now consider China as the world’s top military power, down from 12 percent in 2016, although nearly a third (30 percent) believe China is the leading economic power.

Meanwhile, only 4 percent of Americans agreed that having China, instead of the U.S., as the world’s leading power would be better for the world, down from 6 percent two years ago. The figures come from three surveys Pew carried out between March and May, with a margin of error of 3.6 percent.

With China so far resisting calls for an independent probe into the cause of the outbreak, Beijing’s ambassador to the U.K Liu Xiaoming raised the prospect of an international review, telling Sky News that it should be “free from politicization.”

The hit by the pandemic to China’s diplomatic standing comes as it faces global pushback over its plans to introduce security laws in Hong Kong, as well as a growing spat with the U.S. over its sale of weapons to Taiwan.

Kishore Mahbubani, author of Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy, said that it would be “logical” for China and the U.S. to be working together on the coronavirus, but “sadly, U.S.-China competition has stepped up even after COVID-19”.

“The United States has launched a major geopolitical contest against China without first working out a comprehensive long-term strategy. Some of the reaction the U.S. is taking against China is impulsive and emotional rather than reasonable and logical,” Mahbubani told Newsweek.

“There is a very strong impulsive reaction to hit out at China whenever it can even if it does not serve America’s interests to do so.

“Inevitably geopolitical tensions rise between the number two and number one power. As China gets stronger and stronger, America gets more and more uncomfortable so America will try to thwart the rise of China,” said Mahbubani, a former Singaporean diplomat who was also president of the United Nations Security Council between January 2001 and May 2002.

The Trump administration Tuesday tightened its web of sanctions around the Maduro regime in Venezuela, blacklisting four companies allegedly involved in the country’s oil sector.

By sanctioning the firms and their vessels, which are registered in the Marshall Islands and Greece, the U.S. Treasury Department is attempting to cut off the flow of revenue President Nicolás Maduro needs to preserve his power. Targeting the private sector with financial sanctions also helps the administration avoid a military confrontation, U.S. officials say.

As Russia, one of Maduro’s last allies around the globe, eases its logistical support for Venezuela’s energy sector in the face of a costly U.S. sanctions campaign, Caracas has increasingly relied on relationships with Iran, narco-traffickers and other illicit networks to trade its oil and gold for fuel and cash, current and former U.S. officials say.

The economy-crippling sanctions have accelerated an economic deterioration that U.S. officials and Venezuela analysts say was already under way because of the Maduro regime’s systemic corruption and mismanagement. Despite a deepening six-year economic depression compounding political opposition to the regime, Mr. Maduro has been able to hold on to power through the aid of those allies.

Iran, another top U.S. foe, has recently begun shipping Venezuela the gasoline and other refined oil products it needs to keep the economy afloat and the country’s military fueled. Venezuela is using international brokers to sell its crude, U.S. and Western officials say, to pay back Iran.

The Venezuelan representative to the United Nations didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The Maduro government has condemned the accusations and the sanctions as U.S. propaganda and economic warfare, blaming Washington for its economic woes.

Those blacklisted on Tuesday include Afranav Maritime Ltd., based out of the Marshall Islands, and its Panamanian oil tanker, the Athens Voyager. Another target is Greece-based Seacomber Ltd., the registered owner of the Chios I tanker. Afranav couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. A representative for Seacomber didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sanctions block any assets the blacklisted companies might have in the U.S. More importantly, they are designed to spook the international business infrastructure shippers need, such as international insurers, port operators, financiers and traders. Anyone found by Washington to be helping the sanction targets risks facing punitive action themselves, including loss of access to the world’s most important finance and trade market, the U.S.

“The United States will continue to target those who support this corrupt regime and contribute to the suffering of the Venezuelan people,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The Treasury and State Departments are conducting broad diplomatic campaigns to warn countries, banks, shipping firms and other companies to avoid helping the Maduro regime, persuading nations to deregister ships and cut off credit lines, both of which are necessary for international maritime trade.

Photo: The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has condemned sanctions as U.S. propaganda and economic warfare. – VENEZUELAN PRESIDENCY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement of support to violent rioters burning down homes and businesses throughout the United States this weekend, asserting on Monday, “the world is standing with you.”

“The world has got heard your outcry over the state oppression,” ministry spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said at his regular briefing on Monday. “The world is standing with you. The American regime is pursuing violence and bullying at home and abroad.”

“We are greatly regretful to see, along with people across the world, the violent scenes the U.S. police have recently unfolded. We deeply regret to see the American people, who peacefully seek respect and no more violence, are suppressed indiscriminately and met with utmost violence,” Mousavi continued, demanding police “stop violence against your people and let them breathe.”

Elsewhere, the Iranian Foreign Ministry posted a statement online claiming falsely that “vicious dogs” were attacking peaceful Americans on city streets, citing a remark by President Donald Trump claiming that said dogs would greet anyone breaching the White House fencing. There is no evidence of widespread use of police dogs during the current round of arson and looting this weekend.

“Failed [sic] to keep its promise of stopping wasting money [sic] on foreign adventurism and embattled in a Covid-19 [Chinese coronavirus] crisis of its own making, U.S. regime now employs army, vicious dogs and ominous weapons to intimidate protesters,” the ministry said, adding the U.S. should “listen to its people and change its bankrupt policies.”

The statements were a response to arson and looting throughout the United States, allegedly a response to the killing of George Floyd, a black U.S. citizen from Minnesota, at the hands of local police. Floyd was unarmed and police have not offered a reasonable justification for the use of lethal force.

While several cities in the country saw peaceful protests this weekend, including some in which police officers participated, most of the “protests” disintegrated into riots resulting in the widespread destruction of homes and businesses. Much of the destruction occurred in underprivileged communities the rioters claimed to be rising up in defense of.

Various rogue states around the world have condemned the killing of George Floyd. The Russian Foreign Ministry, for example, issued a statement calling his killing “far from the first in a series of manifestations of lawlessness and unjustified violence by the ‘law enforcement officers’ in the United States.”

In China, the Foreign Ministry has been less enthusiastic than Iran or Russia in supporting the riots, given the current unrest in Hong Kong. Instead, state media have compared the peaceful, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong to the riots throughout America by radical left-wing agitators, using the situation to condemn U.S. support for Hong Kong.

Iran has also endured years of ongoing protests against the radical Islamic regime. Unlike in America, Iranian terrorist forces have violently repressed protesters, among them those demanding the economic boom they were promised during the Obama administration and women simply asking to leave their homes showing their hair legally. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif joined the chorus of regime mouthpieces recalling American support for pro-democracy protests in Iran on Twitter this weekend.

Former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also attempted to make this point, using a racial slur against black people in a tweet allegedly supporting them.

Iran is currently facing yet another crisis, this time one of the deadliest outbreaks of Chinese coronavirus in the world. Iranian officials claim to have documented 154,445 cases of Chinese coronavirus and nearly 8,000 deaths. Dissident groups say the real death toll is closer to 50,000 which, if true, would mean Iran has one of the highest death tolls on earth in the pandemic. Iran’s regime has insisted that they have engaged in one of the world’s most successful coronavirus responses.

“Our country’s statistics and figures as well as the economic fallout of coronavirus are comparable to developed countries of the world,” President Hassan Rouhani claimed on Sunday. “Today, after having fought this dangerous virus for 100 days, during which our health sector and the entire nation did a great job, we see acceptable conditions [in terms of containing the pandemic].”

The regime also claims that its terrorist organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is working on developing a coronavirus vaccine, despite no evidence existing that epidemiologists or medical experts form part of the jihadist outfit. Tehran has offered no significant updates on the IRGC vaccine since March.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the largest dissident organization in the country, documented evidence of nationwide protests in the country this weekend in response to growing shortages of basic needs in the country, including food and water. The organization said protests occurred in five villages and cities in the country on Friday and Saturday. Intelligence agents also reportedly engaged in raids, arresting suspected dissidents as young as 16 years old.

One of Australia’s biggest states is pushing ahead on an infrastructure deal with China at a time when ties between Beijing and the federal government are at a new low, raising concerns that Chinese money may end up funding projects that are a national-security risk.

Victoria joined China’s Belt and Road program—a trillion-dollar flagship foreign-policy initiative—in October. In recent days, the state’s premier, Daniel Andrews, has been touting it as a “passport to export” and a way to create jobs in a coronavirus-afflicted economy.

The deal is driving a wedge between the southeastern state and the government in Canberra, where views toward Beijing are hardening as the two countries spar over China’s handling of its coronavirus outbreak. An influential bloc of nationalist lawmakers is calling on the government to use the pandemic as a way to reshape the economy and reduce Australia’s reliance on China.

The Victorian deal pledges cooperation on infrastructure projects, as well as on biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and technological innovation. Melbourne, the Victorian capital, is home to many of Australia’s biotech startups and health-care companies.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says that he didn’t support Victoria’s decision to sign up to the program and that it is “usual practice for states to respect and recognize the role of the federal government in setting foreign policy.” The federal government wasn’t consulted on the October framework agreement, and the country’s foreign-affairs department was advised only on the day it was signed, an official said.

Clive Hamilton, a China expert at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, said Beijing’s strategy is “using the countryside to surround the city,” ramping up its influence efforts in state capitals. Washington’s hard-line policies on China means there has been a strong push in the U.S., too, to find alternate channels of engagement via local government leaders, he said.

A summit held in Lexington, Ky., in May last year is one such example, bringing together political officials from U.S. states, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Washington, Michigan and Colorado, and Chinese municipal- and provincial-level governments.

In Australia, tensions with Beijing have been increasing since 2018, when Canberra tightened counterespionage and foreign-interference laws and banned Chinese telecom companies Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from its next-generation 5G mobile network, aligning it with U.S. policy on the matter and underscoring concerns about the possibility of cyberspying by Beijing.

The relationship deteriorated further in May when Beijing imposed tariffs on Australian barley exports and threatened a consumer boycott of Australian meat and wine, and visits by Chinese tourists and students, after Australian officials called for an investigation into any missteps that contributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

Beijing has denied the move was meant as economic coercion. But some lawmakers and security experts say the Victoria deal should be halted and reassessed in the rapidly changing geopolitical environment.

“The Victorian government’s Belt and Road activities are simply out of step with the new international and economic environment, including the now openly coercive directions that Beijing is taking with Canberra over trade and in government relations,” said Michael Shoebridge, a former top defense intelligence official and China hawk. “The Victorian political leadership’s championing of the state’s tie-up with Beijing on infrastructure is a glaring wedge that Beijing is driving into Australia—at a time when national cohesion on dealing with the Chinese state is essential.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a television interview on May 24, threatened to “simply disconnect” from Australia, a defense ally and partner in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, if the deal affected the security of U.S. communications. The U.S. ambassador later clarified that Mr. Pompeo had said that he didn’t know the exact nature of the deal and that the security of Australia’s 5G telecommunications networks was a federal matter on which the U.S. and Australia are aligned.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Belt and Road is an economic cooperation initiative that is “completely reasonable, lawful and aboveboard.”

Some Australian lawmakers say the Belt and Road program heightens the risk of foreign interference. “Victoria needs to explain why it is the only state in the country that has entered into this agreement,” said Peter Dutton, the home-affairs minister.

“It’s all about jobs; it is as simple as that,” Mr. Andrews, the state premier, told reporters . “I’m not going to go to the hundreds and hundreds of businesses who send more products to China than they ever have and say that they shouldn’t.”

Many countries, including France, Canada, Australia and India, are stepping up scrutiny of foreign investment amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus, concerned that foreign entities could swoop on strategic assets weakened by the pandemic.

Security agencies are also ramping up their warnings about potential malicious cyberattacks, citing critical infrastructure facilities such as power and water-distribution networks, as well as transport and communications grids, as potential targets.

Australia’s top military cyber-defense agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, warned recently that malicious actors are actively targeting health-sector organizations and medical research facilities, possibly seeking information and intellectual property relating to vaccine development, treatments and research now of higher value and priority globally.

The agency didn’t specify, but it referred to Advanced Persistent Threat actors—the term given to the most sophisticated and well-resourced type of malicious cyber adversary usually associated with nations.

Mr. Shoebridge, a director of defense, strategy and national security at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan security think tank, said that although they may appear to be just concrete and steel, many new infrastructure projects are “laced with digital technologies.”

China has framed the Belt and Road initiative as a way to more closely integrate its economy with those across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, primarily through infrastructure projects. But security hawks say it is a coordinated campaign to extend its global political and military clout.

“They’re after a much deeper, much more intrusive partnership,” said Mr. Shoebridge. “Biotechnology is part of the People’s Liberation Army’s vision of a future military power. To say these things are just science and just civilian activity is to misunderstand the Chinese state and the breadth of activities under the Belt and Road.”

Photo: Victoria’s state premier, Daniel Andrews, said the state’s membership in the Belt and Road program ‘is all about jobs.’ – SPEED MEDIA/ICON SMI/ZUMA PRESS

A United Nations report issued Monday found that Afghanistan’s Taliban has maintained close ties with al Qaeda, holding at least six high-level meetings with leaders of the group during more than a year of talks with the United States.

The U.N. findings point to the difficulty faced by the Taliban in implementing its side of the agreement signed with the U.S. in February. Under the terms, the U.S. will withdraw all its troops within 14 months in return for a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will never again become a haven for terrorists.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan said after the report’s release Monday that “we see progress, but they have a lot more to do.”

The U.N. report stated that al Qaeda’s senior leadership remains in Afghanistan along with hundreds of armed operatives. The report warned that fully implementing the agreement with the U.S. could cause the Taliban to split between pro- and anti-al Qaeda camps.

The Taliban share a close relationship with al Qaeda “based on friendship, a history of shared struggle, ideological sympathy and intermarriage,” the report said. It found the Taliban continue to provide a haven for al Qaeda members, estimating the size of its force between 400 and 600 armed operatives in Afghanistan.

U.S. defense officials are drawing up options for President Trump, including a full withdrawal of all U.S. troops as early as this autumn.

Mr. Khalilzad insisted the U.S.-Taliban deal remained in place and that any U.S. withdrawal would be based on conditions, as outlined in the deal negotiated over about 16 months of talks with the Taliban.

“The key thing is whether the conditions have been met, and I think that is the most important issue,” he said.

The U.N. report was produced by the world body’s sanctions monitoring team as part of its routine reporting on Afghanistan to the U.N. Security Council. The Taliban remain confident they can take power by force and could gain a significant battlefield advantage, if the U.S. abruptly withdraws, it said.

“The sudden or unexpected withdrawal of such support would endanger several provinces and leave them susceptible to falling to the Taliban,” the report said.

It noted there was also a risk that the Taliban will continue to find reasons to delay the full implementation of the deal with Washington as the U.S. continues to draw down its presence. As part of the agreement, the Taliban must reduce violence and start talks with the government and other Afghan groups.

The process has been held up over a prisoner swap, which is a condition for intra-Afghan talks to start. The Afghan government, which isn’t a signatory to the deal, has balked at freeing Taliban prisoners who could return to the battlefield and is calling for a long-term commitment by the Taliban to reduce violence.

The government and the Taliban also disagree over the number and process for releasing prisoners. The government said this week it had released 3,000 prisoners, but the Taliban have countered that 500 of them weren’t members of the group.

Mr. Khalilzad said the outlook for talks to start soon has improved since the Taliban agreed to a three-day cease-fire over the Muslim Eid holiday celebrated last week. Since then, he said, violence has remained relatively low.

“There are more prisoners to be released, and we hope violence will stay at very low levels,” he said.

Photo: Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar after signing an agreement with the United States during a ceremony in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Feb. 29, 2020. – GIUSEPPE CACACE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES